Ghost Business by Jen DeLuca

e-ALC, 11:44:50
Narrated by: Jeannie Sheneman
Release Date: September 9, 2025
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: September 14-16, 2025
Boneyard Keys, #2
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a free ALC from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review)
Content Warning: Sexual Content, Toxic Relationship, Grief 
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ+ (Tristan = Bi), Adult, Audio, Contemporary, Dual POV, Sparkly Covers, Most Anticipated, Own Voices, Paranormal, Romance

    Clashing ghost tours lead to a sizzling romantic rivalry in the second romance in the new series from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.
     Boneyard Key, Florida, is the only home Sophie has ever known. Her love for its supernatural history has flourished into a career, as she guides the one and only ghost tour through the town’s can’t-miss haunted spots. And while her bank account isn’t full by any means, her heart is. Or at least, it was.
     But there’s a newcomer in town. The son of a Fortune 500 businessman, former theater kid Tristan has grown his tours from a fraternity fundraiser to a multicity ghost tour conglomerate. It’s doing well, but not well enough—if he can’t prove that he’s solidly in the black by the fall, Dad’s going to pull his funding, spelling the end of his career. Boneyard Key, with its haunted reputation, seems like the perfect place to boost his bottom line.
     When the two ghost tours clash, Sophie’s expletive-filled rant goes viral, and the rivals strike up a deal. Whoever has the most successful business by summer’s end stays, while the loser must ghost. But the more Tristan comes to appreciate Boneyard Key, the more Sophie comes to appreciate Tristan, and what starts as begrudging respect becomes something spicier. Can they put their feuding businesses aside to make room for a chance at love, or is Boneyard Key too small for two ghost tours?

*MY THOUGHTS*

This was one of my most anticipated romances of this year. I loved the first one and all the ghostie mayhem that it brought. I was expecting the same thing this time, but it just wasn’t there. I’m a little disappointed actually. Sad day because I just knew this was going to be like the other and I was going to love it.

So the paranormal part of this was ok. Tristan was a non-believer, but when things started getting real, he changed real quickly because he had seen it with his own two eyes. I remember mostly liking the other one because he was a believer but they were just discovering these things, but they still were creeped out a bit. It didn’t seem like it swayed Tristan at all, which I just didn’t believe. He just immediately accepted it and I just don’t believe that. Whether or not he saw it with his own eyes or not lol

I think what made me give it this rating tho was the plot. I was bored. And I hated that because it was about ghost tours. I’m from an island that has multiple ghost tour companies and they’re all different because they put their own spin on things, NOT because they lied about the people or the instances. They all stayed the same story or had some of the same origins at least. The hurricane bit was ok, but it wasn’t the end all be all. Like it didn’t save it overall. I just thought there was so much more that could be done with ghosts, but this wasn’t it.

The characters were just ok. Neither one of them showed much emotion. And I’m talking one is getting got by their father and the other is just trying to save her business. I just didn’t feel like there was anything that was REAL or hella important to them? Idk how to explain it, it just bothered me. They just didn’t seem to be fully fleshed out I guess.

Y’all have no idea how much it hurt me to write this review. I’ve loved Jen DeLuca since her debut, but this one just didn’t do it for me. There’s always one, but I wished it wasn’t this one if that makes sense.

Overall, I give this